INSIDE THE WHITE SOX.

Benching Sits Well With Him

Rookie Caruso Returns With Aggressive Play

BOSTON — Mike Caruso had plenty of time to mull his future last week as he sat on the bench for four straight games. He now admits he feared he would be sent to Triple-A Calgary.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it," the 20-year-old shortstop said, "but that was wrong. Baseball is a day-by-day thing. You can't think about where you might be going."

Caruso doesn't have to worry about that now. He had a career-high three hits Wednesday night to raise his average to .254, and his defense was excellent during the two-game series here.

"He seems to understand now that he has to maintain his level of play to be a big-league shortstop," said Sox manager Jerry Manuel.

Caruso didn't pout during his stint on the bench, and his play has taken a sharp turn for the better.

"Since Jerry sat him down, he's playing with more fire and aggressiveness," General Manager Ron Schueler said. "He sometimes looked like he was in a daze, like he wasn't sure if he should be out there. (The benching) was to send a message to him: Even though you're young, show us a reason to keep you here."

Caruso has done just that, making several snazzy defensive plays against the Red Sox. He went airborne to snag John Valentine's liner Tuesday and made a diving stop on a Mike Benjamin groundball Wednesday. He also picked up his ninth error of the season Wednesday, but first baseman Wil Cordero could have helped him by scooping his throw in the dirt.

Caruso attributed his offensive surge to his extra work with hitting instructor Ron Jackson, who has encouraged him to maintain consistency with his batting stance.

"I'm really just trying to shorten my stroke," Caruso said.

Manuel was impressed.

"He can tell his kids he went 3 for 3 (his third hit actually came off reliever Jim Corsi) against Pedro Martinez, the highest-paid player in the game," Manuel said.

Then Manuel caught himself.

"He's only 20, so he doesn't have kids," he said. "He can tell his brothers and sisters."

Nice try: The Sox have pledged to be aggressive on the basepaths, but they looked downright dumb in the third inning of Wednesday night's game.

Charlie O'Brien led off by hitting a rope down the left-field line, but he got thrown out by a mile when he tried to stretch it into a double. The same thing happened when the next batter, Caruso, slapped a ball down the right-field line. But at least this play was bang-bang.

"Maybe Charlie was looking for a bad throw," Manuel said. "He had the play right in front of him."

Unhappy homecoming: Cordero had an unpleasant return to Boston. He was booed, went 0 for 8 with four strikeouts and had a brutal night in the field Wednesday.

In the second inning, he couldn't pick up Caruso's low throw. With runners on the corners in the fourth, he bobbled a Troy O'Leary grounder, negating any chance for a double play. In the fifth, he failed to get a glove on O'Leary's sharp grounder. It was scored a hit after originally being ruled an error.

"This was a hostile environment," Manuel said. "Next time he'll have an idea of what to expect, and he'll be better for it."